Grandmother Finch turns 100!

This weekend was my Great Grandmother's 100th birthday! I can't even imagine all of the things she's seen in her lifetime.


My mom, sister, Aunt Becky, Hannah, and me with Grandmother Finch.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is what an incredible woman of God she is. Uncle Donald gave a great tribute to the power of her prayers. He told my favorite story from the weekend.

When Uncle Donald was in Korea, he was ambushed by enemy soldiers. A man popped up in front of him and pointed a gun point blank at his face. When the soldier pulled the trigger, the gun didn't fire. Somehow, Uncle Donald escaped.

Later on, Uncle Donald recieved a letter from Grandmother Finch. In it, she told him how she couldn't sleep one night and had to get up and pray for him. It was exactly the time that the gun didn't fire.

On a side note, Uncle Donald's hair turned completely white weeks later.

Some brief facts about her life.

Her father lost the family plantation gambling.
Two of her husbands died of tuberculosis.
She has 5 children, 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild.
She was born in 1907! Holy crap!

On the trip up to Pine Bluff, AR we saw some incredible signs. Perhaps the most incredible was a sign for "renoveted rooms" at a hotel.




There were lots of cotton farms on the way there.


It's cotton harvesting season, so there was cotton balls all along the sides of the roads.

Life just got a little more complicated...

Alternate title: I don't want to take the OAT again.




I heard back from UAB, and (good to know now) they have a minimum science score that you have to have to get in. My score (science and otherwise) was good, but not great. Apparently they need to be great. I have to take the OAT again and try to get 10 points, out of 400, higher than I did last time. It would have been nice to know that before they invited me to interview. And if I had known that before I could have been studying for a while now. Oh well, God's in control and there is a reason for this. Maybe multiple reasons.

To say I'm pissed off and disheartened would be putting it lightly. However, getting a better score can't hurt me... and I haven't found a job yet. So the plan is to put the job search on hold and concentrate on studying for the OAT and taking it as soon as I can. At least I don't have school to worry about. And my little sister can keep me company while we do school together.

I just don't want to do this again. I hated O. Chem the first time around, hated it when I studied for the OAT the first time around. I'm pretty sure this time isn't going to be any different.

I'm working on putting a studying schedule together today. Intense, focused Paula is back. Exam week Paula is back. The Paula that schedules her week by the hour.

I'm trying to find the silver lining in this, but it's hard. I know it's not much to complain about. At least they didn't reject me outright with no telling me why. I still have a really good chance of getting in, as long as I do better and take it by Dec. 15th.

On a less depressing note: I'm going to post some pictures of how I redid my bedroom soon. I like how it turned out.